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Laurier hosts Mexican students studying international migration

June 18, 2015

June 18, 2015For Immediate Release

BRANTFORD – The Brantford campus of Wilfrid Laurier University is hosting a group of students from Ibero-American University in Mexico City who will join Laurier students in a field course on migration and human rights, from June 13 to 26.

While in Canada, the students will learn about the services and programs in place for migrants in Canada and the effects of migration and integration on receiving communities and the migrants themselves. Students will complete the course by organizing a barbecue for seasonal argicultural workers in Simcoe, Ont.

Laurier students recently returned from two weeks in Mexico where they learned about the challenges faced by Central American migrants who travel through Mexico by foot and train. Students met with “Dreamers” – the children of undocumented Mexican parents who grew up in the United States and were deported to Mexico – and learned about refugee asylum laws in Mexico and the country’s human rights issues. Students then spent a week working in migrant shelters, preparing meals for the migrants and hearing first-hand about the migrants’ journeys.

“There were so many different emotions through this experience. Students were at once exhausted, fulfilled, overwhelmed, powerless, heartbroken and hopeful,” said Stacey Wilson-Forsberg, assistant professor in Laurier’s Human Rights and Human Diversity program. “I believe this was an incredible experience for Laurier and Ibero students to witness the complexities of migration in Mexico. Now in Canada, students will get to see another side of the migrant experience.”

The course – co-hosted by Laurier’s Human Rights and Human Diversity program and the Programa de Asuntos Migratorios – takes place in Mexico and Canada. It is co-taught by Laurier and Ibero-American University instructors, as well as several guest speakers from international organizations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs).